Dear Joe

Dear Joe*
been learning
old wars
new harms.
genocide again?
I been / to some.
Gulags
"Well now / you know"
old wisdoms
new ears
old mirrors
new stories
snakes
given ladders
- shrug -
locked up?
Lived it. 
Another Joe,
was first
Perhaps fortold
these days?
sky orator
practicing
until voices
found?
spread thighs
over roofs
ashed skin
YOU BROKE!

Far.
Closer to home.
Inside.
Plague came
other horsemen
(don't waltz)
- gasp _
"we forgot"
seashells whisper
"lies!"
Eyes fail
cave delights
consumed us.
(Got
gangsta granny
goals)**
That corner?
gotta 
fill pockets
so(w) seeds
be ready.

Pehiw Preparing 24
*To all the Joes I have known
** To Rita of Guigues Street who showed us how to hold our spaces.